NY Times Tries to Soften McCain's Pro-Bush Tendencies

This article, while welcome, is an example of the sort of mealy-mouthed journalism we have come to expect over the past twenty years.

Basically, Elisabeth Bumiller investigates whether McCain really would represent Bush's third term. The answer, to any reasonable person, is yes. But Bumiller tries to fudge the issue, unwilling to take a stand and state the obvious.

Nearly all of the evidence in the article shows that McCain has either always agreed with Bush's policies, or simply came around to believing in them during the last 8 years. But McCain is different than Bush, Bumiller writes, because....well, because McCain says he will be different!

Here is a perfect example:

Perhaps Mr. McCain’s biggest departure from the president is on climate change. Mr. McCain has called for mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions, unlike Mr. Bush, who says such limits would be bad for the economy. Mr. McCain also supports a “cap and trade” system in which power plants and other polluters could meet limits on heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide by either reducing emissions on their own or by buying credits from more efficient producers.

Mr. McCain, who has a mixed record on the environment in the Senate — he has missed votes on toughening fuel economy standards and has opposed tax breaks meant to encourage alternative energy — has nonetheless tried to highlight what he considers his stark environmental divide with Mr. Bush.

“There is a longstanding, significant, deep, strong difference on this issue between myself and the administration,” Mr. McCain said last month.

Of course, Bumiller fails to tell you that in 2000 George W. Bush ran on a pledge to reduce greenhouse gases, then promptly backed off that campaign pledge after the election. And Bumiller notes that McCain hasn't actually voted in favor of any legislation that would address climate change. The only evidence she offers that McCain won't be like Bush? That McCain himself says he will be different.

The NY Times needs to get their act together. Stop going to McCain's ranch barbecues, tell us the real truth, and don't fall for the spin. If the vast bulk of McCain's policies mimic the worst president in our history, there is nothing wrong with telling us that.